Ogio MX Flight Vest

What it is

• Ogio is a Utah based top of the line gear bag manufacturer.

Ogio specializes in all form of gear bag manufacturing in almost every sport and activity that needs it. From Golf to Travel, Bicycle to Work and especially "moto". They have a full line of Hydration packs, helmet bags, riding backpacks, ATV Rack bags, tool packs and the MX Flight Vest. The Flight Vest has come in many shapes and sizes; limited editions from KTM and partnerships with other brands, a few different color combinations, but the same basic design has been around for years. It is constructed from 420D Dobby nylon / 600D polyester - Dobby just means a textured weave of Nylon, while 600D refers the weight of the polyester per 9,000 meters of material. It has multiple adjustment points, side cinch straps and front adjustable clips to make it a claimed one-size fits all. With 12 pockets - 2 large sized front pockets, 2 long sign pockets, 3 "ammo" pockets, a small cell phone sized pocket, smaller key pocket, small zippered from pocket, hydration pack pocket and tube sized pocket - it will carry just about anything you may need on the side of the trail. Along with 2 "D" rinds, elastic tool holders and several other places to attach tools. There is a 70oz hydration pack that is touted as the #1 hydration system.

How it works

• If you are course marker this is a MUST BUY in my book.
• The Fit is a little baggy if you are very tiny. If you are very big it may not fit at all.
• The back portion goes down really low and will sit on top of your tool pack and push into your helmet if you're not careful.
• Strong materials and tough construction definitely works in an off-road environment
• You will be out of things to carry before you are out of places to carry them.

The Ogio Flight Vest is one of those items that is similar to an e-button on a two-stroke. Why would you need something like that? Then you use it and you immediately realize that you should have been using one all along. The first thing needed to be done with the Ogio MX Flight Vest is to properly adjust it.

With 3 adjustable front buckles and two cinch buckles on each side it makes for quick sizing. As a 160 pound bean pole I set mine up all the way tight, I loosen it a bit on the bottom buckle if I'm wearing a tool pack so it'll slip over it. When I'm wearing a big jacket in the winter I can easily adjust for that. After getting the vest to fit correctly peruse all of the pockets. You'll quickly find that it seems to have one for everything. You can carry most anything and having most of the weight on your shoulders, much like you did all through your school years with a backpack, for me is just easier to handle the weight there. Easily accessible too, unlike a backpack.

When pairing the vest with a tool pack things get tricky. The back portion of the vest juts down 2-3 inches lower than the rest of the vest. Either allowing for more space for the hydration system or giving you more butt protection... whatever the reason. It interferes with the tool pack and unless you adjust accordingly (for the vest to go over the tool pack making you look like you have a huge rear end) the vest will ride up and push on the back of your helmet. Annoying sometimes, when you start riding it almost immediately falls into place and you never notice it again.

I wear the vest for course work mainly but also for pre-running so I carry LOTS of essentials as pictured in the Gallery.

A typical load for my vest, in the front I carry; Keys, Gas "L" to dump regular gas into my Quick-Dump tank receiver, Phone, 3 Rolls of Ribbon, 2 packets of staples, a mini leatherman, Stapler, Arrows, race radio and snack bars. Then in the back I have: the hydration pack, a 21 Inch tube, wet-ones and 2 spare bottles of water.

The only thing that I changed to the Flight Vest was the hydration pack. The design for holding it is great, the easy-slide top makes for the quick refilling. Yet it has this really weird plastic taste to it. I don't know if it is the mouth piece, the bladder itself or the hose, but it did not sit right with me. A quick change to a USWE disposable pack or any other hydration pack that you fancy will fix it and if you want to carry more than 70 oz. it can hold as large as a 120 oz. bladder no problem. For anyone that is spending long hours on the trail, pre-running Baja, marking course, taking the family for rides or just looking to be more then prepared for any situation this is a definite "must buy". I was actually working on making a one-off, custom pack for all the course marking I do and it ended up looking almost exactly like the flight vest with a huge price tag—not to mention the time to make it. Even at full price, I’m sold on the Ogio’s solid durability and functional utility. Bonus is the Flight Vest is always a sale item for $89-$120 around the holidays.

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